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Amaro hopeful Utley can return soon

Amaro hopeful Utley can return soon

SAN DIEGO -- Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said on March 28 that he had no plans to place Chase Utley on the 60-day disabled list.

He thought he could be back before 60 days, which would be sometime before the end of May.

"I'm hopeful," Amaro said before Saturday's game against the San Diego Padres at PETCO Park. "I don't know if it's going to happen, but I'm hopeful. I can only hope."

Amaro said Utley, who has patellar tendinitis, chondrolmalacia and bone inflammation in his right knee, has made some progress in the last couple of weeks. But progress does not mean a rehab assignment is scheduled in the immediate future.

"He went from not running to running," Amaro said. "He doesn't run every day."